America This Week - Livestream Tonight at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT
Covering the Trump administration is kind of like trying to use a fire hydrant as a water fountain. Nevertheless, Matt and Walter persist. On tonight’s edition of America This Week, the duo will reflect on Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s impending Senate confirmation votes, Trump’s recent comments about a U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip, the war over USAID, the likelihood of a Pentagon audit, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl Big Game victory. They’ll also discuss Matt’s piece about the Politico controversy and how it’s symptomatic of the legacy press’ slow-motion spiral into irrelevance. Join them at 8:00 PM ET.
Watch on YouTube below:
Watch on Rumble here.
Or follow @mtaibbi or @walterkirn on Twitter.
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Friends are telling me that Politico received it's suspicious USAID funding as "high tier" subscriptions.
(Nowadays most scientific literature is behind firewalls and require institutions, or individuals, to pay high amounts for access. Although you can buy individual articles. Many older scientists remember the days when you could contact the corresponding author with a post card or e-mail and he would happily send you a copy, a common courtesy to those interested in the work. In academic departments there were always arguments about which journals to subscribe with limited departmental funds).
I'm a cynic, and I worked in government (NIH). There seems a massive migration at present of State Media stenographers to Substack (which was trashed by these same people not so long ago). My guess is many of these propagandists will do well on the "high tier (outrageous) " subscription models supported by our "public servants", elected and bureaucrats, and some academic institutions and libraries. They won't be using their own money from home. They will be using taxpayer money and government working time for the high tier subscription costs. I doubt they will even read the articles, the point will be to keep government agency mouthpieces gainfully employed and their articles at the top of the news. After watching our politicians' vastly over-paid book deals, speeches/ seminars, artwork, charities, business ventures and being paid by lobbyists for favorable legislation and votes, etc, it will be easy for the Establishment to justify massively overpaid subscriptions to so-called journalists.
How heart warming to see these two hardened journalist place so much child-like faith in Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Kirn’s reference to Martin Luther seemed wholly appropriate; if you believe these two, Musk and Trump are doing God’s work. At one point Matt even showed how much he identified with their cause and used the pronoun ‘We,’ so much for journalistic independence. It would be one thing to say let’s get out the popcorn and watch the sh*t show that will ensue from Musk’s nighttime raids— but instead these two really seem to believe that Musk is the second coming of Ralph Nader. And that sunshine and transparency is his ultimate goal. You’d think after selling Musk to us as a free speech maverick at Twitter, and then watching him turn X into his private megaphone / rightwing cudgel, Taibbi would have learned his lesson. Creepy.